Greg Suhr tries to quell Bayview anger with forum

S.F. POLICE SHOOTING

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, July 21, 2011

About 300 people, many upset about the police shooting of Kenneth Wade Harding, gather for a community meeting on Wednesday, July 20, 2011, in San Francisco.

About 300 people, many upset about the police shooting of Kenneth Wade Harding, gather for a community meeting on Wednesday, July 20, 2011, in San Francisco.

Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle

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An unidentified man address San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr, left, during a meeting for Bayview residents upset over the police shooting of Kenneth Wade Harding on Wednesday, July 20, 2011, in San Francisco. less

An unidentified man address San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr, left, during a meeting for Bayview residents upset over the police shooting of Kenneth Wade Harding on Wednesday, July 20, 2011, in San ... more

Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle

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San Francisco police Officer Bartley keeps watch outside a Bayview community meeting on Wednesday, July 20, 2011, in San Francisco. About 300 people, many upset about the police shooting of Kenneth Wade Harding, gathered for the meeting which ended early following outbursts from some attendees. less

San Francisco police Officer Bartley keeps watch outside a Bayview community meeting on Wednesday, July 20, 2011, in San Francisco. About 300 people, many upset about the police shooting of Kenneth Wade ... more

Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle

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San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr gets a supportive message before a meeting for Bayview residents upset about the police shooting of Kenneth Wade Harding on Wednesday, July 20, 2011, in San Francisco.

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr gets a supportive message before a meeting for Bayview residents upset about the police shooting of Kenneth Wade Harding on Wednesday, July 20, 2011, in San Francisco.

Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle

Image 5 of 6

An unidentified man yells at police officers during a meeting for Bayview residents upset over the police shooting of Kenneth Wade Harding on Wednesday, July 20, 2011, in San Francisco.

An unidentified man yells at police officers during a meeting for Bayview residents upset over the police shooting of Kenneth Wade Harding on Wednesday, July 20, 2011, in San Francisco.

Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle

Image 6 of 6

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr addresses Bayview residents upset about the police shooting of Kenneth Wade Harding on Wednesday, July 20, 2011, in San Francisco. About 300 people gathered for the meeting which ended early following outbursts from some attendees. less

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr addresses Bayview residents upset about the police shooting of Kenneth Wade Harding on Wednesday, July 20, 2011, in San Francisco. About 300 people gathered for the meeting ... more

Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle

Greg Suhr tries to quell Bayview anger with forum

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San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr faced his first big test as the department's leader when he appeared before hundreds of people in the Bayview on Wednesday night to quell anger over Saturday's fatal shooting of a man by police officers.

But within 30 minutes, the forum fell apart.

More than 300 people packed into the Bayview Opera House to weigh in on the shooting Saturday, when Kenneth Wade Harding, a 19-year-old Washington state parolee, was shot and killed after he allegedly fired at two officers. But Wednesday, people in the opera house booed Suhr and repeatedly interrupted his address. Things didn't improve when the chief gave up and opened up the floor to questions: Those trying to question the officials could barely be heard above the crowd's cries of outrage.

Suhr stepped off to the side for a bit, then returned to the microphone to continue answering questions.

"I get how upset everyone is, but everyone came here to talk to me, and I came here to listen," he said. "I don't care if you disrespect me, but don't disrespect the people who came to talk."

Afterward, he said the reaction was what he expected.

"Everybody is upset. Everybody wants to vent," Suhr said. "They want to see me and have a conversation in their community. Here I am. I love this community, and I'm telling you right now, there are some hurting people in there, and they needed to hear us say, 'Here we are.'

"They shouted me down - that just means I've got to come back again," he added.

Knows neighborhood

It was a familiar crowd for Suhr, who was the Bayview Station captain until his appointment as police chief in April. During his time there, Suhr oversaw an almost 50 percent drop in homicides and won praise for his community police work, including the creation of a basketball program that brought police officers and local residents onto the courts together.

Yet he still faced a test this week, as tensions continue to run high over Saturday afternoon's shooting. The meeting was held one day after police arrested 43 people - most of them from outside San Francisco - in a raucous demonstration that at times turned violent. Protesters stormed and vandalized the Castro Muni Station, threw a hammer at a line of officers, and attacked a CBS news cameraman, attempting to steal his camera.

Outrage has persisted this week despite contentions by police that Harding shot at them first.

Many at Suhr's Bayview meeting said they were more concerned with how police treat people of color in San Francisco. Some wanted to ask about past crimes and incidents.

Debray Carpenter, 22, asked why he is regularly hassled by officers, particularly on the T-Third Muni line. Suhr said police stepped up presence on the light-rail line after four shootings and noted that officers have found guns on routine searches of passengers caught without tickets. On Saturday, police were trying to check if Harding had a ticket.

Carpenter said he was disappointed by the forum.

"I feel like it went nowhere - our questions were left unanswered," he said. "We need to shut down the T line until we get answers to our demands - no police on trains, free trains or no trains at all. We'll make sure there are no trains at all if that's the way they want it."

Not everyone was there to protest. Carol Domino, a 50-year-old Richmond resident who works in the Bayview and has family there, said she is more interested in the bigger picture than Saturday's shooting.

Violence 'getting out of hand'

"I came out here today just to support the community. I'm not here to judge because we really don't know what happened," Domino said. "So many young black men are getting murdered, not just by police. The whole violence thing is getting out of hand, and somebody's got to do something."

Others called for Suhr to release the names of the officers who shot Harding, while some came to the chief's defense. In recent days, Suhr has attempted to stress what investigators determined since the shooting. He noted that ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection and location system, had recorded 10 shots fired over the course of six seconds as police chased Harding near Third Street - one shot at first, followed 1.9 seconds later by nine in rapid succession.

The detection system also found that three different guns were used in the shooting, Suhr said, and investigators found gunshot residue on the right hand of Harding, who recently served time for prostituting a 14-year-old girl in Seattle and was named by police there as a person of interest in a shooting last week that killed 19-year-old Tanaya Gilbert and wounded three others.

It wasn't enough to convince some Bayview residents, who noted that police were unable to find a firearm on scene. Authorities pointed toward a video taken by a bystander that showed a man in a gray-striped hoodie removing a silver gun lying off to the side of where Harding lay facedown. Suhr said earlier this week that a gun fitting that description was located in the Bayview home of a parolee.

Mayor Ed Lee, who appointed Suhr in April, praised police handling of Tuesday's protest and said Wednesday that the backlash against police for the Saturday shooting is unfortunate. Lee said he has been sharing information about the incident with Bayview leaders as it became available this week.

"This individual acted dangerously. He shot at the officers," Lee said. "Public safety as well as the safety of officers was at stake. I want to make sure the public understands that."

'This is a good follow-up'

One former police chief said Suhr was wise to schedule the meeting.

"The important thing is to keep the dialogue with the community going," said Tony Ribera, who now directs the International Institute of Law Enforcement Leadership at the University of San Francisco. "I'm not sure how many of the demonstrators out (Tuesday) night represent the community. Greg was a captain at Bayview Station, he developed a lot of contacts and mutual respect. He did a lot for community policing, and I think this is a good follow-up."

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